FAA Fine American Airlines $7.1M for Safety, Drug-Testing Violation [updated]
 

No story posted yet, but this shows at the top of foxnews.com:
"Breaking News >> Federal Aviation Officials Accuse American Airlines of Safety, Drug-Testing Violations"

Edited to add:
"Among the violations, the Federal Aviation Administration alleges that American last December improperly deferred maintenance work on safety-related equipment when returning two aircraft to service after pilots had reported problems. The planes then flew 58 times, according to the FAA."

...They are still writing the story, but you can find it at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,404123,00.html

American also accused of using underaged flight attendants. FAs must be at least 18 according to the FAA. According to websites, some AA FAs are actually 14 years old and may be as young as 12. AA states that according to their ID badges the FAs are at least 18.

Younger FAs have substantial advantages in getting higher scores from the judges, who often complain that older FAs are hags and dinosaurs.

are these ages calculated in dog-years (7x)? :D

Although, the judges have found that a great deal of the 40 something FAs are still perfect 10s:D

Skylady: I think ya'll are perfect 17.70s ;) (Under the new scoring system, of course.)

A little more information from our friends at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Online at: http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/834274.html

FAA wants to fine American $7.1 million for lapses
Trebor Banstetter
[email protected]

The Federal Aviation Administration wants to fine American Airlines $7.1 million for several safety lapses, including allegedly flying planes 58 times without necessary maintenance.

The proposed fine is a significant penalty by FAA standards. Earlier this year, the agency slapped Southwest Airlines with a record $10.2 million fine for a series of inspection lapses.

The agency claims that in December 2007, American returned two MD-83 airplanes to service without required maintenance, after pilots had reported equipment problems.

The maintenance, which was needed for the autopilot system, was improperly deferred, the agency claims, even after an FAA inspector told the airline the work needed to be completed.

"The FAA believes the large total amount of the fine for these violations is appropriate because American Airlines was aware that appropriate repairs were needed, and instead deferred maintenance," the agency said in a prepared statement. "The carrier did not follow important safety regulations intended to protect passengers and crew."

The maintenance lapses resulted in a $4.1 million penalty. The agency said it had previously proposed a $2.7 million fine for lapses in American's drug and alcohol testing program and for a lapse in inspections of the lighting system in emergency exit areas.

In April, American grounded its entire fleet of MD-80 jets for emergency wiring checks after an FAA audit revealed problems with the inspections. More than 3,000 flights were canceled over a seven-day period.

For months, the FAA has been under fire from Congress for allegedly being too soft on the airlines. Since a Congressional investigation into the agency began earlier this year, the agency has stepped up its scrutiny of the airlines.

IMO, two separate issues here: AA and the two MD-80s, and the FAA trying hard to show they really haven;t been in bed with the airlines and pencil whipping inspections after all. Most of all the sudden movement is about the latter. Maybe the FAA will look in its own house and try some housekeeping and maybe the USG will even require FAA inspection of overseas maintenance operations.

I still want to hear more about the two MD-80s pilots squawked, yet flew 58 times - because they have the absolute power to say "no," particularly if backed up by the aircraft maintenance logs.

American Airlines fined $7.1 million for safety violations
 

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/0...faa/index.html

(CNN) -- Federal regulators announced $7.1 million in fines against American Airlines on Thursday over maintenance issues and problems with its drug- and alcohol-testing programs.

"The FAA believes the large total amount of the fine for these violations is appropriate because American Airlines was aware that appropriate repairs were needed, and instead deferred maintenance," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement announcing the decision. "In intentionally continuing to fly the aircraft, the carrier did not follow important safety regulations intended to protect passengers and crew."

American can still appeal the fines, the FAA said.

There was no immediate reaction from the Chicago-based carrier to Thursday's announcement.

Nearly $4.5 million of the proposed fines stem from American's continued operation of two MD-83 jetliners in December 2007 after pilots reported problems with the autopilot systems, the FAA said.

One of those aircraft flew more than 50 times before the problems were properly diagnosed and even after that, improperly repaired.

Regulators also accuse American of operating planes without timely inspections of their emergency lighting systems and of unspecified "past deficiencies" regarding drug and alcohol testing.

ouch. so how much are our copay s gonna be now? :)

Since when is AA or AMR a Chicago based company?

Google Finance says:
4333 Amon Carter Boulevard
Fort Worth, TX 76155
United States - Map
+1-817-9631234 (Phone)
+1-817-9679641 (Fax)

I wonder how many fines AA will have to pay until they finally consider to get rid of either their old fleet or upgrade these planes. If it's too much expense to get new planes then the only solution might be to dramatically shrink the whole airline. Yes, this will cost jobs ! Many of them. But flying planes below maintenance standards is definetely no solution as it is a problem for the public safety.

Sad that sometimes serious things have to happen until a solution comes on the table.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.1; U; en-us) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413 es61i)

AA is now Chicago based?

Gee, if that is any indication of the aacuracy of the reporting here.....

You might want to look at this recent press release regarding the acquisition of new aircraft

Unbelievable! Doesn't sound like the old AA?

I was the first to call BS on the "ORD-based" statement:D

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=855561